Hindu woman in Assam deceived into marriage by Muslim man posing as Hindu, pattern of targeting multiple women and identity fraud exposed

Case ID : 30a7f6f | Location : Guwahati, Assam, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 18 April, 2026

Case ID : 30a7f6f

Guwahati, Assam, India

18 April, 2026

Hindu woman in Assam deceived into marriage by Muslim man posing as Hindu, pattern of targeting multiple women and identity fraud exposed

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Name Changed

Pattern of targeting Hindu women

Brainwashed and/or groomed

Case Summary

A Hindu woman in Guwahati, Assam, was deceived into a marriage through a false identity. The man presented himself as a Hindu and built contact with her online. The truth about his identity emerged only later. The incident led to alarm among local Hindu residents. Around 18th April 2026 to 20th April 2026, in Guwahati, Assam, a Hindu woman, estimated to be around 18 to 19 years old, came into contact with a Muslim perpetrator who introduced himself under the alias “Liton Saha.” He presented himself as a Hindu man and initiated communication with her through online platforms. During the course of this interaction, the Muslim perpetrator used a phone number with a Pakistan based prefix. He communicated with the Hindu woman through calls and messages, and frequently deleted call logs and contact details from his device. He used the false identity to build trust and establish a relationship with her. The Muslim perpetrator offered assurances of financial support and promised to provide her with a home. These assurances were communicated through online interactions. The Hindu woman was led to believe that she was interacting with a Hindu man, and the relationship progressed on this basis. Over time, the Muslim perpetrator concealed his real identity while continuing to engage with the Hindu woman. He maintained contact through digital platforms and controlled the flow of communication by removing records from his device. The Hindu woman remained unaware of his actual identity during this period. The interaction culminated in a marriage involving the Hindu woman in the Radhanagar area. The marriage took place under the false identity presented by the Muslim perpetrator. His real identity as a Muslim man was revealed only after the marriage had been carried out. Subsequent information indicated that the Muslim perpetrator had connections beyond the locality. His mobile device contained data linked to Pakistan and Bangladesh. There were indications of communication with individuals outside India and references to financial transfers facilitated through digital means. The Muslim perpetrator had been residing in the Golaghat Basti Panchayat area for approximately seventeen years. He had established local presence and was listed in records as a resident. He had adopted a Hindu name and maintained this identity within the community. Further details suggested that the Muslim perpetrator had engaged in similar conduct previously. Information emerged that he had entered into multiple marriages with seven other women under similar circumstances. The pattern indicated repeated use of false identity to establish relationships. Following the incident, local Hindu residents submitted formal complaints to the police regarding the deception and marriage. Police registered a case and arrested the Muslim perpetrator, identified as Liton Saha. The arrest took place under the jurisdiction of Jogijan police station. The accused was taken into custody and investigation was initiated into his activities, including examination of digital evidence recovered from his mobile phone. Authorities began analysing connections linked to Pakistan and Bangladesh. The situation in the area was brought under control with police presence, and the investigation remained ongoing at the time of the last update.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within this, the subcategory selected is - Man pretends to be Hindu. Under this, the tertiary categories selected are - Name changed, and Pattern of targeting Hindu women. When a non-Hindu man pretends to be a Hindu to deceive a Hindu woman into a relationship, the act is seen as triggered by malafide intentions. In some cases, the woman eventually accepts the man’s original religious identity and converts after the man’s identity is revealed. These cases could be argued as cases of religious brainwashing and a result of the pressure a woman feels after getting into a relationship with a man. The woman, it can be argued, also changed her religious identity because of the stigma she believes she might face if she chooses to walk out of a deceptive relationship. However, for the purpose of documenting hate crimes, the cases in this subcategory are limited to those where there is explicit violence aimed at religious conversion against the wishes of the victim (force-feeding beef, blackmailing with intimate videos, rape on refusal to convert, etc), or if the woman herself complains of the man’s religious deception. In such cases, it is established that the deception of the non-Hindu man had a specific aim of religious conversion or targeting of the victim due to her Hindu religious identity, therefore, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. The other sub-category selected for this case is - Brainwashed and/or groomed. In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime. This case qualified as a religiously motivated hate crime because a Hindu woman was deliberately deceived, groomed, and induced into marriage by a Muslim perpetrator who concealed his religious identity and presented himself as a Hindu. The deception was not incidental. It was central to the act. The targeting of the Hindu woman was carried out through calculated misrepresentation of identity, which enabled the perpetrator to gain her trust and access her life. Religion was therefore not peripheral but the foundation of the harm inflicted. In the primary religious marker, the Muslim perpetrator pretended to be Hindu in order to establish a relationship with the Hindu woman. He adopted a Hindu name and introduced himself in a way that aligned with her religious identity. For a Hindu woman, shared religious identity often plays a significant role in trust, social acceptance, and marriage decisions. The perpetrator exploited this by deliberately concealing his true identity and presenting himself as someone from within her religious community. This was not a random disguise. It was a calculated choice designed to lower her guard and secure acceptance. By choosing to pose specifically as a Hindu, the perpetrator demonstrated that he understood the importance of religious identity to the victim and used it as a tool to deceive her. This revealed clear intent to target her as a Hindu woman, knowing that the deception would only succeed if he mirrored her religious identity. By adopting a Hindu name, he ensured that his presence would not raise suspicion and that his interactions with the Hindu woman would appear legitimate. This act of identity alteration was deliberate and sustained over time. It allowed him to embed himself within the local environment and interact freely with Hindu individuals. The conscious decision to erase his real identity and replace it with a Hindu identity showed that the deception was planned and maintained for the specific purpose of targeting a Hindu woman. This demonstrated intent to exploit religious markers as a means of access and control. In the second religious marker, there was a pattern of targeting Hindu women, as the Muslim perpetrator was linked to multiple similar relationships. Information indicated that he had previously entered into several marriages, with reports suggesting involvement with seven other women. This pattern is significant because it shows repetition of the same method. The use of false identity was not a one-time act but part of a broader pattern of behaviour. For Hindu women, such repeated targeting indicates that the perpetrator was not acting randomly but was consistently selecting victims from a specific religious group. The recurrence of similar acts demonstrates that the method was refined and reused. This revealed that the perpetrator deliberately targeted Hindu women as a group, using deception rooted in religious identity to repeatedly exploit them. The existence of multiple victims reinforced that the act was systematic and directed, not incidental. In the other religious marker, the Hindu woman was groomed through deception and sustained manipulation. The relationship was built through online communication, promises of financial support, and assurances of stability. For the Hindu woman, these assurances created a sense of trust and security, which was gradually strengthened over time. The perpetrator controlled communication by deleting call logs and concealing traces of interaction, ensuring that the deception remained intact. This grooming process relied entirely on the false identity he had constructed. The deception was not limited to a single interaction but was maintained consistently until the marriage took place. This demonstrated that the perpetrator deliberately invested time and effort to manipulate the Hindu woman’s perception of reality. The grooming was therefore not incidental but structured, with the aim of leading her into a relationship under false religious pretences. This revealed intent to exploit her as a Hindu woman by using her trust in shared identity as the foundation for long term deception. In cases like these, the tactic of adopting a false Hindu identity to manipulate and "ensnare" a Hindu individual is not just an act of personal betrayal but can also be interpreted as an expression of disdain or disregard for Hinduism and its customs that reflects a deeper animosity towards Hindus and their beliefs, and this is why this case has been added here. Disclaimer: The exact date of initial contact between the Hindu woman and the Muslim perpetrator was not specified in the available sources. The tracker records incident dates based on when the crime occurred rather than when it was reported or published. In this case, 19th April 2026, the article publication date, was used as the indicative incident date. This was recorded for documentation purposes only.